Yuki's BLOG:" Drawing everything is lovely.....!": October 2012

October 19, 2012

pop-up book

The Jungle Book by Matthew Reinhart (Little Simon, $26.95) is an eye-popping retelling of Rudyard Kipling's story of a boy raised by wolves. It follows Mowgli the Man Cub through a jungle teeming with life and wondrous surprises such as a sparkling golden idol and a towering, tiered temple overrun by monkeys.

Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart (Candlewick Press, $27.99). I wasn't sure how they could top last year'sEncyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs until I saw this cast of astonishing, spine-tingling creatures, which includes a fearsome open-jawed shark that noses right into your face.

Blue 2 by David A. Carter (Simon & Schuster, $19.95). A vivid, lighthearted romp through shape and form that is like a gallery of modern, often whimsical, abstract sculptures. My favorite is the lacy pyramid composed of cut-out numbers and letters. On top of all that, like his last year's pop-up One Red Dot, this is a treasure hunt with a blue 2 hidden within each spread.

Dragons by Keith Mosley and M.P. Robertson (Abrams Young Readers, $15.95) recounts five classic dragon tales from around the world. These mythological beasts spread their wings, unfurl their bodies and soar through the air.

The Enchanted Doll House by Robyn Johnson (Handprint Books, $24.95). Every detail is thought out, starting with the flocked wallpaper-style cover and gold tassel that helps pull open this delightful book. Inside, four distinctive dollhouses dating back to the 16th century reveal their secrets and those of their occupants.

The Snowmen Pop-Up Book by Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner (Dial, $21.99) answers the question of what snowmen do at night via luminous vignettes in which frosty figures race under the stars, pummel each other with snowballs, whoosh down hills on sleds and return to their yards a little bit worse for the wear. It's a fun follow-up to their 2002 book, "The Snowmen At Night," which was a perfect candidate for pop-up treatment.

Mommy? is illustrated by Maurice Sendak (Scholastic, $24.95), based on a story by Arthur Yorinks and features the paper engineering of Matthew Reinhart but is pure Sendak: sweet and slightly scary. A toddler in jammies confronts a cast of classic movie monsters - a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy - until finding his mother behind the last closed door. And she's a dead ringer for Elsa Lancaster in the "Bride of Frankenstein."

Grown-up pop-ups
Adults are the real audience for a small but growing number of fun and funky pop-ups. Here are three of the year's must haves for the pop-culture mavens on your holiday list:

Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense by Kees Moerbeek (Simon & Schuster, $29.95) puts a cinematic flourish - right down to creepy, moving body parts - on seven of the director's thrillers. Spoiler alert: plot details are revealed.

Graceland: An Interactive Pop-Up Tour by Chuck Murphy (Quirk Books, $40) starts with a foreword by widow Priscilla then moves room by room through the Memphis manse. There's plenty of insider dish and a surprisingly sober ending in the Meditation Garden, home to the graves of Elvis, his parents and one of his grandmothers.

The Pop-Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns by Melcher Media (DK, $29.95) is check-out line worthy from its tacky, tabloid-style cover to pages on which Tom Cruise bounces on Oprah's couch and Janet Jackson's wardrobe manages to, ah, malfunction.

3-D Books Adults Will Love

[ By Steph in Architecture & Design. ]

Typography, architecture, fashion, sex and even Star Wars spring into vivid three-dimensional life on the pages of these 15 incredible pop-up books. Some might be made for children but are cool enough to appeal to adults and others are strictly for the 18-and-older crowd, but all of these clever and creative books will make you feel like a kid again as you pull the tabs and anticipate what will pop up next.

ABC3D

(images via: macmillan.com, boramag)

Just as much of a graphic design and typography showcase as an ABC book, ‘ABC3D’ by Marion Bataille is more of a treat for parents than for children. Though using it to teach a baby the alphabet may result in some unusually design-oriented children, it could just as easily be a coffee table book for adults. The transitions from one letter to another are particularly clever.

The Pop-Up Book of Phobias

(image via: garybreenberg.com)

Let your fears pop up into your face with Gary Greenberg and Matthew Reinhart’s ‘The Pop-Up Book of Phobias.’ Dentists wielding drills, oversized spiders, dizzying vantage points, snakes and even death itself present themselves in three dimensions. Each phobia is explained in terms that will further terrify the reader. In the case of dentophobia, “the phobia often manifests itself in the form of paranoid delusions of dentist as torturer, drilling through cuspid and mandible, lacerating gum tissue, and striking repeatedly at the exposed nerve endings, while the patient, secured to the chair, remains conscious throughout the procedure.”

The Architecture & Modern Architecture Pop-Up Books

(images via: rizzoli usa)

Author Anton Radevsky brings us two pop-up books of architecture – one classic and one modern. The Architecture pop-up book features intricate replications of the Egyptian pyramids, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal and more. The Modern Architecture pop-up book follows the development of architecture in the 20th and 21st centuries from the Eiffel Tower to the Foster + Partners-designed ‘Gherkin’ in London. Architect Santiago Calatrava contributed to the book.

The Roaring Twenties: A Spicy Pop-Up Book for Adults Only

(images via: rotating corpse)

Fans of the 1920s era who like kitsch might enjoy this goofy novelty pop-up book by Peter Seymour, published in 1987. While it hardly gets more risque than suggestive poses and glimpses of underwear, it’s certainly not for children.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense

(images via: bloody-disgusting.com)

An oversized hardcover measuring a full square foot, ‘Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense’ gives each of the director’s best-known films a 3D spread including Psycho, Vertigo, Saboteur, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain and Frenzy. The imagery is, of course, derived from key scenes in each film, like the shower curtain scene in Psycho and the strangulation in Frenzy. Each page includes a ‘hidden’ image of Hitchcock’s cameo in the film.

Handmade New York Dreams Carousel Book

(images via: andrea dezsö)

Artist Andrea Dezsö, who often works in cut paper, is known for a number of one-of-a-kind pop-up books inspired by the culture of her birthplace, Romania, as well as the immigrant experience in America. This stunning star-shaped carousel book reflects on her perception of New York, where she moved a decade ago after receiving a residency at the New York Center for Book Arts.

Visionaire 55: Surprise

(image via: paperpops.com)

A collaboration between Visionaire Magazine, paper engineer Bruce Foster and a number of designers and artists, Visionare 55: Surprise was a limited edition of 4,000 sponsored by the champagne brand Krug. Gareth Pugh and Mario Testino are among the ‘visionaries’ who were invited to turn their designs or photography into a 3D pop-up spread.

Andy Warhol’s Index

(image via: bowdoin.edu)

Originally conceived as “a children’s book for hipsters”, Andy Warhol’s ‘Index’ is full of iconic pop-art imagery. Fully intact copies of the book are extremely rare – most of the copies known to still be in existence may be missing the pop-up elements like a can of Hunt’s tomato paste, a geodesic dome, an airplane and what appears to be a sheet of LSD tabs. The book also contains a 45 RPM flexi-disc with a portrait of Lou Reed, which plays an exclusive song by The Velvet Underground.

The Naughty Nineties: A Saucy Pop-Up Book for Adults Only

(images via: rotating corpse)

By the same author of ‘The Roaring Twenties’ comes ‘The Naughty Nineties’ – 1890s, that is. This one is definitely a bit more revealing than the other title; it tends to be remembered fondly by children who got their hands on a copy in the 1980s.

Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Mega-Beasts

(image via: wired.com , printed and bound)

Yes, the ‘Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Mega-Beasts’ pop-up book is meant for kids, but adults will get just as much enjoyment out of it. Created by noted pop-up author Robert Sabuda, who has produced similar titles featuring dinosaurs and other creatures, this fun book packed with 35 full-sized pop-ups brings long-dead animals to life. Check out a cool feature by Wired, ‘The Science of Pop-Ups’, featuring this book.

Neiman Marcus Pop-Up Book

(images via: notcot, nylonmag)

Neiman Marcus issued this pop-up book to celebrate its 100-year anniversary in 2007. The book follows a young girl who experiences the store from the time it first opened until the present day, exploring many eras of fashion and housewares along the way. One of the largest pop-ups is a woman in a dress made of Neiman Marcus catalogs.

The Pop-Up Book of Sex

(images via: kardsunlimited)

Unquestionably the most ‘adult’ pop-up book on this list, the Pop-Up Book of Sex is just what it sounds like. Described by the publisher as ‘”a scandalously clever tour of the erotic arts”, the book illustrates “the world’s ten best carnal positions”.

Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy

(images via: gamil.com)

A must-have for any hardcore Star Wars fan, this book from Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart is an engaging guide to the fictional world of the films. More than 35 pop-ups illustrate the planets of the galaxy, AT-ATs, galactic vehicles, ‘sentient species and beasts’ and of course all the characters from the series including Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and even a rampaging rancor.

The Pop-Up Book of Nightmares

(images via: garygreenberg.com)

Phobias are exchanged for nightmares in this book by Matthew Reinhart and Gary Greenberg. The book features 10 of the most universally terrifying dreams including forgetting to study for a final exam, standing naked in front of a crowd, falling, giving birth to a monster, being chased and coming face-to-face with a pile of squirming rats.

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October 17, 2012

Pop-ups! They're Not JUST for Kids

Pop-ups! They're Not JUST for Kids from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.

cardboard play space

More here

Pop up Office

This folding office by Liddy Scheffknech and Armin Wagner is a great example of figuring out ways to rethink the possibilities surrounding shortages of space, mobility and permanence. An office you pack up and fold away, or take with you to your next destination. This pop up office is made simply of cardboard and tape and measures 94 x 275 x 200 cm. Here

a playing space for kids

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October 16, 2012

Ancient Anatomy, circa 1687

Seventeenth-century Tibet witnessed a blossoming of medical knowledge, with the construction of a monastic medical college and the penning of several influential medical texts. Perhaps most striking was a set of 79 paintings, known as tangkas, which were intended to illustrate a comprehensive four-volume medical treatise called The Blue Beryl. Created between 1687 and 1703, these paintings are vibrant pieces of educational art that interweave practical medical knowledge with Buddhist traditions and Tibetan lore—depicting such things as the use of omens and dreams for making diagnoses, hundreds of medicinal herbs and medical instruments, and diagrams of human anatomy.

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This front view of the human anatomy is meant to teach Tibetan doctors-in-training the classification of bones, the positioning of the internal organs, and other facts about the human body.
Catalog #70.3/5470 Courtesy, Division of Anthropology, AMNH

The word tangka (or thangka) derives from Tibetan words meaning “rolled-up flat painting” or “written record.” Since their original creation more than three centuries ago, the 79 Blue Beryl tangkas have been painstakingly reproduced numerous times by physician monks as part of their medical training. The tangkas are still used for teaching in Nepali medical schools today. This front view of the human skeleton belongs to a set produced in Kathmandu in the 1990s under the guidance of self-taught Nepalese artist, Romio Shrestha. More than 40 assistants recreated the paintings using pigments derived from natural sources, such as mercury ore for red, the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli for blue, and sulfur salt for yellow.

Medicinal Alchemy, circa 1512
The Mindless Machine, circa 1664
The Pee-in-a-Cup Test, circa 1500

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October 07, 2012

2011 BrainArt Exhibition Highlights from About my Brain

2011 BrainArt Exhibition Highlights from About my Brain on Vimeo.

How does your brain work?

Your brain is the hub of your nervous system. It is made up of 100 billion nerve cells - about the same as the number of trees in the Amazon rainforest. Each cell is connected to around 10,000 others. So the total number of connections in your brain is the same as the number of leaves in the rainforest - about 1000 trillion.

How does your nervous system work?

The nervous system is a network of cells called neurons which transmit information in the form of electrical signals. Your brain has around 100 billion neurons, and each communicates with thousands of others – as many connections as in the world's telephone system, the biggest machine on the planet. Neurons communicate with each other at special junctions where chemicals help to bridge the gap between one neuron and the next.

What does the central nervous system do?

Your spinal cord receives information from the skin, joints and muscles of your body. It also carries the nerves that control all your movements. Your brain is the most complicated part of your nervous system. It receives information directly from your ears, eyes, nose and mouth, as well as from the rest of your body via the spinal cord. It uses this information to help you react, remember, think and plan, and then sends out the appropriate instructions to your body.

What makes the human brain unique?

During human evolution, our forebrain became larger as our cerebral cortex increased in size. This means it had to become more folded to fit inside the skull. This gives the outside of the human brain its 'walnut' appearance. Humans have a larger cerebral cortex relative to the rest of the brain than any other animal. The cerebral cortex handles many of our unique skills, like language and problem solving.

A brain of two halves?

The right side (hemisphere) of your brain controls the left side of your body, and the left hemisphere controls the right side. Although the two sides of the brain look like mirror images of each other, they are different. In most people, the left hemisphere is important for language, maths and reasoning, whereas the right is more important for emotion, recognising faces and music.

Left- or right-handed?

Are you left- or right-handed? Nine out of ten people prefer their right hand, which is controlled by the left side of the brain. As this side also usually deals with language, scientists have long wondered whether the two are linked. Apparently they are not - although right-handed people use the left side of their brain for language, so do most left-handed people.

What happens to a divided brain?

The left and right brain hemispheres share information through the nerves that join them. In some epilepsy patients these nerves are cut to relieve their symptoms. Studying these 'split-brain' patients has revealed a lot about the hemispheres. For example, patients cannot name an object, say an apple, shown on their left-hand side even though they recognise it. This is because information about the apple is sent to the right side of their brain, but cannot cross to the left side, which usually deals with language.